Most people do not need to pay for an AI assistant to get real work done. All ten assistants in this guide have a free plan, and the right choice depends less on raw model strength than on where you already work: Google apps, Microsoft 365, WhatsApp, X, a code editor or the open web. Below is what each assistant is best at, what its free plan includes and what the first paid tier costs, using prices recorded on 14 and 15 October 2026.
Quick answer
- Best all-rounder: ChatGPT, for everyday questions, writing, images and research in one app.
- Long documents, writing and code: Claude, whose free plan already includes web search, code execution and file creation.
- Gmail and Drive users: Google Gemini.
- Word, Excel and Outlook users: Microsoft Copilot.
- Web answers with citations: Perplexity.
- No-cost reasoning and coding: DeepSeek or Qwen Chat, neither of which sells a consumer plan.
- Inside the apps you already use: Meta AI for WhatsApp and Instagram, Grok for X, Le Chat if you prefer a European provider.
Start with three questions
Before comparing features, answer three questions. First, where do you spend your working day? An assistant built into the tools you open every morning saves more time than a slightly stronger model in a separate tab. Second, what do you repeat every week: drafting emails, summarising PDFs, debugging code, checking facts? Test the free plans on those exact tasks. Third, how sensitive is the data you will paste in? Company policy may rule out some providers before quality even comes up.
The ten assistants at a glance
| Assistant | Free plan | Starting price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Unlimited text chats with GPT-6; limited uploads, images, voice, deep research | $8/month (Go) | One assistant for most everyday tasks |
| Claude | Web search, code execution, file creation, memory, connectors; Sonnet and Haiku models | $20/month (Pro, billed monthly) | Long-form writing, documents, coding |
| Google Gemini | Flash-Lite model, Deep Research, Gemini Live, Canvas, 15 GB storage | $7.99/mo (Google AI Plus) | People who live in Gmail and Drive |
| Microsoft Copilot | Chat, image creation, voice and visual help with standard limits | $9.99/month (Microsoft 365 Personal) | Windows and Microsoft 365 users |
| Perplexity | Practically unlimited basic searches, about 3 Pro Searches per day | $17/month billed annually (Pro) | Quick web answers with sources |
| Grok | Limited chat, agent requests and image generation | $8/month (Plus) | X users who also want media tools |
| DeepSeek | Web chat and mobile app; no paid consumer plan | None listed | Free reasoning, math and coding help |
| Le Chat | Limited messages and web searches, basic images, 100+ connectors | $14.99/mo (Pro), excluding taxes | Users who prefer a European provider |
| Meta AI | Free; heavy use of Thinking mode and image/video generation is capped | No confirmed price | WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger users |
| Qwen Chat | Free chat with Qwen models after sign-up | None listed | A free multilingual assistant |
ChatGPT: the broadest feature set
ChatGPT’s free plan includes unlimited text chats with GPT-6, subject to abuse guardrails, plus limited file uploads, image creation, voice chats, deep research, memory and Codex access. The cheapest paid tier is Go at $8/month, but Go may include ads and lacks the advanced reasoning models; the highest model access needs a Pro tier. Prices are set per country: checked from Egypt, the official page showed Go at EGP 220/month and Plus at EGP 999.99/month. If you want one app that covers questions, writing, coding help, images and research, start here. Our ChatGPT vs Claude comparison goes deeper on the two most popular choices.
Claude: long documents, writing and code
Claude has one of the most complete free plans: chat on web, desktop and mobile, web search, file creation, code execution, memory, app connectors, Artifacts, and Claude Design, Slides and Docs, running on the Sonnet and Haiku models. The Opus models need a paid plan. Pro costs $20/month billed monthly, or $17/month billed annually ($200 up front); Max starts at $100/month. Usage limits apply on every plan, including Pro. Claude suits people who write long texts, analyse documents or code.
Gemini or Copilot: follow your office suite
Google Gemini’s free tier uses the lighter Flash-Lite model, but it includes image creation and editing, Deep Research, Gemini Live, Canvas, Gems, limited Google Flow, Gemini Notebook and 15 GB of Google storage. Paid plans start at $7.99/mo with Google AI Plus in the US; in Egypt the official page listed AI Plus at 249.99 EGP/month. Google’s newest model, Gemini 4 Argon, is rolling out to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers.
Microsoft Copilot is free for chat, image creation, voice and visual help, within standard limits. More usage comes through Microsoft 365, not a separate AI plan: Personal is $9.99/month or $99.99/year and adds Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. On the Family and Premium plans, the AI features are for the subscription owner only. Choose by suite: Gmail and Docs point to Gemini, Outlook and Excel point to Copilot.
Perplexity: answers you can check
Perplexity is built for search. Every answer carries inline citations, and the free plan gives practically unlimited basic searches, about 3 Pro Searches per day, limited file uploads and 1 Research query per month. Pro is $17/month billed annually or $20/month billed monthly. Paid plans let you pick from several third-party models. If your main job is checking facts or reading up on a topic quickly, it is a better fit than a general chatbot.
Grok, Meta AI and Le Chat: tied to a platform or region
Grok’s free tier offers limited chat and agent requests, limited image generation through Imagine and limited Grok Build, plus basic X features. Plus costs $8/month and Premium $30/month, excluding taxes, and usage refreshes weekly. Meta AI is free inside WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Messenger, though Meta caps heavy use of Thinking mode and image or video generation; paid Meta One tiers are only in limited testing, with no official prices. Le Chat from Mistral AI gives limited messages, web searches, coding sessions and basic image generation for free, with tight limits; Pro is $14.99/mo excluding taxes.
DeepSeek and Qwen Chat: free with no paid tier
DeepSeek offers its web chat and mobile app with no subscription at all, and it is strong at reasoning, math and coding. It has fewer extras such as media generation or integrations, and data is processed by a China-based company, which some organisations restrict. Qwen Chat from Alibaba is also free after sign-up, with Qwen3.7-Plus shown as the default model and good multilingual support; public documentation on its usage limits is thin. Both are reasonable second assistants next to a paid one.
Common mistakes
- Paying before you have tested the free plan on your own real tasks.
- Judging by the headline model name: several free tiers run a lighter model than the paid plans.
- Ignoring regional prices and taxes. Some prices shown here exclude taxes, and several vendors localise prices by country.
- Pasting confidential company data without checking where the provider processes it.
- Paying for two assistants that overlap when one paid plan plus a free second opinion would do.
Bottom line
Start free. Use ChatGPT or Claude as your main assistant, pick Gemini or Copilot if your work lives in Google or Microsoft apps, and keep Perplexity for research. Pay only when you hit the same limit week after week. For more options, see our best AI chat assistants list.
